All circulation proceeds from sales of Wednesday's Independent will go to the Elton John Aids Foundation. Among the content planned by the guest editor will be an interview with none other than music legend Sir Elton John and pieces penned by Bill Clinton and Stephen Fry.

Sir Elton is said to be "thrilled" and thanked The Independent for supporting his charity and the work of World Aids Day.

Evgeny Lebedev, owner of The Independent, said: "We are proud to have Elton editing the paper for a day. His Aids foundation has done a lot of important work around the world which I have witnessed first-hand, and we are pleased to be able to help the cause. I'm sure his paper will make people sit up and take notice."

Hopefully The Independent's subs have been on top of their game while editing Sir Elton's copy, lest we forget this is a man who has admitted that even 'sorry' seems to be the hardest word.

Nov 27, 2010

The Guardian is drawing fire online for an article that informs us "the heat is on Fifa to give the 2022 World Cup to Qatar", not least because the article itself appears to be lead cheerleader for the bid.

It is written by Guardian journalist Louise Taylor who recently visited Qatar as a guest of the emirate's 2022 delegation.

Commenting on Twitter, one journalist, Grant Wahl from Sports Illustrated in the US, branded it evidence of "why journalists should never accept free trips from the people they cover".

Others have been more blunt and certainly the article's clear endorsement of Qatar's bid could hardly have been more on-message if its words had been sponsored all the way onto the page.

We are told "the technological wizardry" that will bring air conditioning to stadiums not yet built "is already virtually foolproof" though it's unclear whose assessment that is.

However, "the really exciting thing about such innovation is its potential geopolitical and historical impact".

Because "if the 40C June heat no longer presents an insurmountable barrier... an unprecedented opportunity awaits to forge fresh, enhanced understanding with the Arab world... It is surely not impossible that greater regional rapprochement could be achieved through impromptu political talking shops convened alongside the football fields of Doha."

With such an opportunity to broker lasting peace in the Middle East we are reminded it would be nothing less than a "failing" on the part of FIFA not to award 2022 to Qatar.

And why not? Taylor tells us "everyone I spoke to said: "Qatar winning this would be about far more than just football.""

It's unclear who all these people are. If they are simply the delegation presenting Qatar's bid to FIFA then their party line is predictable and their optimism laudable but it's hardly the stuff of balanced journalism.

It's unclear throughout in fact who is putting the aforementioned "heat on FIFA" to award the 2022 tournament to Qatar, other than the emirate's bid team and the journalist behind this article.

The only person actually quoted in the piece is Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson - a man not best-known for his knowledge of the Middle East peace process.

The article also unquestioningly praises a number of other bold claims from Qatar's bid before descending into the kind of promotional schtick usually reserved for advertorials in in-flight magazines.

Nov 26, 2010

The Newspaper Licensing Authority (NLA) has won a victory in the High Court over Meltwater, a company that aggregates online news headlines.

The ruling effectively affords inbound internet links a copyrighted status that would require any businesses circulating them to obtain a licence from the NLA.

The ruling is a worrying one, though unsurprising given the UK legal system has perennially strived to achieve new levels of ignorance regarding the web and the digital economy. But in siding with the NLA, which is effectively closing its eyes, sticking its fingers in its ears and drowning out the sounds of progress with some Luddite wailing in order to protect a business model trapped in the late 1990s, the courts have shown they are unfit to rule over such decisions or guard against this becoming a far more damaging precedent.

Irrespective of this specific case which pitted the NLA's revenue model against Meltwater's revenue model (a tussle it's hard to care too much about either way), the precedent should be a concern for all online publishers who aggregate, or signpost third party content to some extent, from lowly bloggers to Google News, and the consumers who enjoy the way they currently navigate the web and the media they read.

Nov 21, 2010

The 71,000 followers of The Guardian's @MediaGuardian account on Twitter may have been surprised to see it offering diet tips this evening (insert your own joke about national newspapers shedding pounds, or slimming down).But it seems the paper is just one of many Twitter users whose accounts have been compromised by a spam message doing the rounds and apparently auto-propagating.

So be careful and don't click on the link should you see this message pop up in your Twitter stream.

The Daily Mail today informs us that in "Dumb Britain" 20 per cent of men think Charles Darwin wrote Oliver Twist:

But what percentage of British men, I wonder, think the Catholic church has been teaching against the use of condoms - or anything for that matter - for "thousands of years"? This historically-challenged headline, also from the Mail:

Perhaps the Mail should get its own house in order before pointing the finger at "Dumb Britain".

Nov 17, 2010

Fans of the X Factor last week may have thought they heard something a little odd when Cheryl Cole was giving her verdict on Cher Lloyd. But did she... could she...really... have said "pretendy confidence" live on air?

Listen for yourself. It's amazing what those microphones can pick up (clue: It's just after the fart):

(We're sure it was probably just a squeaky leather chair, or something.)

See what they've done there? The awards are called "The CRAPPs" - as in, 'sorry I didn't come to your Christmas party but I had the CRAPPs that night'.

It's light-hearted, see.

According to the organisers - PR agency 10 Yetis - the "light-hearted awards" (told you so), will be nominated by and voted upon by PR professionals and include categories such as 'The journalist that makes you feel warm and furry on the inside' (like an old kettle?)

The organisers stated:

"We wanted to have a bit of fun in the run-up to Christmas, and what better way than to make light of such a hugely contentious issue as media relations?"

Indeed. What better way to have fun in the run-up to Christmas - a traditionally problematic time of year for anybody looking to have fun - than talking shop.

The US media aren't generally known for their cultural sensitivity, world view or geographical knowledge but this time Fox News and The Wall Street Journal may have gone too far. There are some crimes against whole cultures and societies that are simply unforgiveable, such as describing The Beatles as "Manchester's favorite Mopheads..." Expect a few carefully-worded corrections from the proud people of Liverpool:

Nov 12, 2010

The press may commonly be referred to as a 'pack' but I struggle to remember a week when they have hunted (or more accurately gathered) as one to such a degree.

It was widely commented upon yesterday how every national paper used the same image of the Millbank riot. Then today, with the exception of The DailyStar and The Independent, it's Emma Watson at the premiere of the latest Harry Potter movie that graces the front page of the nationals - with The Sun and The Mirror picking exactly the same snap of Watson taken from behind (so to speak). Clearly editors are united in the unshakeable belief that the British public want posh totty on a Friday morning.

It's easy to think of this across-the-board unity in running with these pics as a sign of success - 'congrats, you all picked the day's big picture story' - but being right about such things is nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy and I wonder if such a 'safety in numbers' approach may actually be unhealthy for newspapers.

In the hire 'em, fire 'em world of I.T. there is a figure of speech that hints at the relative merits of playing it safe amid the herd, rather than innovating. It goes that "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM".

Perhaps in the hire 'em, fire 'em world of newspapers, it goes that "nobody ever got fired for putting a photo of Emma Watson in a see-through dress on the front page".

Nov 10, 2010

Let's pretend for a minute X Factor is important. Not Burma election-important, or even tuition fees-important. But let's pretend, given the millions of pounds it generates in advertising revenue and the jobs it creates, that it is kind of a big deal in the media world.

Should we care therefore that show host Dermot O’Leary has reportedly admitted his producer told him to let Cheryl Cole opt out of voting and decline her insistence the vote should go to 'Deadlock' (I’m not going to explain – you either know what that means or you’ve stopped reading already)?

"My producer said if Cheryl decides to opt out we go to majority vote. She did decide to opt out and then she said, 'Come back to me and we'll do deadlock'. But you can't do that because it devalues the other two judges' votes. It wouldn't have made sense."

So it would devalue two of the judges' votes? That wouldn't make sense?

What about the thousands of 'judges' watching at home whose votes were entirely devalued by the shambles last Saturday’s show descended into. Does that make sense?

Saying those don't count – as the result would have been reversed based on the viewer vote – does not send out a great message about how ITV regards its audience.

Journalist Clare Sambrook from OpenDemocracy.net last night scooped the Bevins Prize for Investigative Journalism, just a week after she collected the prestigious Paul Foot Award. Sambrook's campaigning style and investigative journalism has highlighted issues around the incarceration of immigrant families and particularly the issue of child detention. She is a guiding light of End Child Detention Now.

Of her latest win, Sambrook said:

"Anthony Bevins set a terrific example of journalism keeping a distance from power, finding his own stories with tenacity and a sense of mischief. I am stunned to find my name linked to his. This is especially welcome to the campaign at a time when the government has completely reneged on its commitment to end child detention."

Sambrook's wins represent the first for an online journalist in either award.

Nov 09, 2010

The annual 'where are they now' convention otherwise know as I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, is fast approaching and the full line-up has been revealed. Here we review the contestants and their chances of winning:

Shaun Ryder - In the grand scheme of things, kangaroo penis and wombat anus will not be the weirdest things Ryder has ever put in his body. It may be what comes out of his mouth ITV is more worried about. In 1997 Ryder was banned from ever appearing live on Channel 4 again after two separate incidences of dropping the F-bomb pre-watershed. There will be headlines. 2/1 favourite.

Stacey Solomon - Seriously? 3/1

Nigel Havers - Actor and full time gentleman from a gentler age, Havers starred in Oscar-winning 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. Ant & Dec would do well to remember to serve Haver's plate of Kookaburra spleen over his right shoulder at the dinner table. May find the fine wine list a little limited at Chez Bushtucker. 4/1

Lembit Opik - Of course. 7/1

Britt Ekland - Former Bond girl, played Mary Goodnight in 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun in which she shared a passionate kiss with Roger Moore. After that, possom scrotum will be a breeze. 20/1

Linford Christie - former Olympic gold medallist whose famous 'lunchbox' became a source of much mirth for newspaper headline writers. Expect more of the same at the first mention of a bushtucker challenge. What do you mean they've already been done? 20/1

Aggro Santos - I have absolutely no idea who he is and can't even be bothered to Google him. It's not my fault they made a rod for their backs by putting the word "Celebrity" in the title of the show. 50/1

Gillian McKeith - If 'You Are What You Eat' then McKeith is just a few short weeks away from being nasty, unpalatable and unsightly (insert your own joke here). 500/1

Nov 07, 2010

What do Lenny Henry and X Factor contestant Paije Richardson have in common?

It's obvious right?

They're both singers of course... except for Lenny Henry.

X Factor judge Louis Walsh baffled ITV viewers last night by likening contestant Paije Richardson to "a little Lenny Henry", despite there being no similarities between the two that could be deemed in any way relevant to an assessment of Paije as a singer (to date he's tried very little comedy on the judges - with the notable exception of this jacket).

Walsh then went on to explain it's because he thinks both men are "fun" (within their entirely different fields of the entertainment industry).

Well I'm convinced.

I now hope Walsh embarks on a mission to prove this gaffe was simply down to nothing more than an appalling grasp of what people are famous for and how to use words to draw a meaningful comparison.

Cue a shoehorned reference this evening to Katie reminding him of "a young Albert Einstein", perhaps?

Nov 05, 2010

Nov 03, 2010

Woe-betide any editor who doesn't fact-check, to within an inch of its life, any mention of Star Trek. One editor of Aussie news site News.com.au certainly didn't. Hence this (slightly tongue in cheek) apology today:

Yesterday, a news.com.au article incorrectly stated that the Star Trek starship USS Enterprise-E, otherwise known as model NNC-1701-E, was the successor to Captain Kirk's original USS Enterprise... It has since been brought to our attention that the NNC-1701-E in fact came two models after Captain Kirk retired and was under the command of Captain Jean Luc Picard.

News.com.au apologises unreservedly for the error... We also agree that Patrick Stewart is a handsome man, a sentiment expressed by several readers.